Isabella's Last Request by Laura Lawrence

eat; although you kind of forget about food in this place, you just keep gambling.  The boys have spent most of their time flitting between the poker and black jack tables. Josh is very impulsive so has been winning big and losing it all again, whereas Ollie is a little more sensible and has been planning his moves and gradually increasing his funds.
    Isabella was playing roulette, but has come to join me on the slots. I figure we can win quite a lot on the slots if we stay for 24 hours and keep to the same machine. But I predict the majority of the winnings will be the return of our own money.
                  ‘Do you want to go play craps with me? I can’t play anymore poker with Josh; he’s stressing me out with his ridiculous gambles.’
    Ollie sneaks up on us, making us both jump slightly.
                  ‘Oh no, is he losing lots of money? Maybe I should go and keep an eye on him. How hard is poker? Do you think I could pick it up easily?’
    Ollie holds his hand out to Isabella, helping her off her stool.
                  ‘Just sit with him for a couple of rounds, and then do the exact opposite of what he does and you’ll be fine!’
    Isabella rolls her eyes at Ollie’s words of wisdom as she heads off in the direction of the poker tables.
                  ‘So Miss Hope, can I interest you in a game of craps?’
                  ‘Ollie, what are you talking about? Surely there’s no game actually called crap ?’
    Ollie laughs at my reaction to having said crap, well either that or my stupidity at not knowing what the game is.
                  ‘Come on darling, I’ll show you.  It’s nice and simple, almost as easy as slots.’
    I allow him to lift me of my stool and collect my pot of chips, before following him to a large table full of people shouting. The table looks like a converted pool table with its moss green background, but it has numbers and boxes with things like “come” and “pass line”. We watch them play for a bit before Ollie proceeds to explain the basics to me.
                  ‘Okay so to begin, the shooter, one of the players, must play at least the table minimum on either the pass line or don’t pass line. The shooter, who for this exercise we’ll say is you, gets presented with about 5 dice, you then get to choose your favourite two. You can only hold them in one hand when you’re about to throw them, and when you do throw you must hit the wall the opposite end of the table. Then the other players get to do the same, and people can bet on you if they don’t want to play it themselves.’
                  ‘Oh, is this what they play in “F.R.I.E.N.D.S” when Monica has to roll the eight?’
                  ‘Erm, yeah… that’s the one. But you’re kind of interrupting me. Do you at least know what you’re doing now though, because you made me lose my trail of thought?’
    I’m not sure if he’s actually annoyed at me or not, so to be on the safe side I give him one of my dazzling smiles and a quick kiss.
                  ‘I think I get it, now let’s win our millions!’
     
                  Four AM was when it really started to get difficult. Josh and I both wanted to quit, after all we’d been playing or 16 hours. But luckily we both have strong partners who refuse to give up before the job is finished. I’ve always known Isabella was determined, but at five AM I saw a completely new side to her.
                  ‘Sit back down! You’re not giving up on me Olivia. Josh has gone back to playing the slots, now shut up and find something to entertain yourself, because all you have done for the last hour is moan and strop. To be honest, even Ollie can’t stand to be around you right now!’
    I look around; it takes me a while to place Ollie. Maybe she has a point, even if she didn’t express it in the best way